We've had 12 days of Christmas, now it's time for 12 WEEKS of hell!

I decided this year to give my training a bit of an overhaul, and so with the help of the guys at Steel Habitat (@steelhabitat) I jumped on the 12 week body transformation bandwagon. I didn't have a problem with my training as such but it was pretty mundane, a bit of a grind and results were few and far between. I'm not exactly unfit as such but I felt I just needed something different, a change of goals, targets, or routines maybe?
I am currently on Day 3 of my 12 Weeks of hell, as I have nicknamed it, and I can promise you all that I already feel 100 times better. To be part of this we had to do a few things first. One was to take a before and after photo. Obviously I have a long way to go until week 12 so you'll have to wait for my "after" photo but in the meantime here is my before photo:

I've always enjoyed my sports, I did sports in college and have done various other coaching qualifications and a level 2 in gym and fitness instruction. But there comes a time when even the more active and enthusiastic among us need a kick. The aim of my blog for the next few weeks is to inform those who are interested exactly what I am doing, how I am following the training plan, what I am eating and my general thoughts on how I am getting on.
Accountability and honesty is everything ladies and gents, no cheating here. The aim - GET IT DONE!













WEEK ONE
Day one - Upper body max effort workout
(afternoon training session)

Dumbbell Bench Press                          7sets x 5reps

1. 12kg
2. 14kg
3. 16kg
4. 18kg
5. 22kg
6. 26kg
7. 30kg

I immediately cheated as it was meant to be a barbell exercise but I wasn't up for queueing for a bench in the gym so improvised. The exercise was also, as shown here, meant to increase in weight from set to set. This was difficult at the top end as I was training alone and could've done with a spotter to go heavier. 

 Narrow Grip Bench Press                    3sets x 20reps

1. 40kg
2. 30kg
3. 30kg

This was a lot more difficult than first expected.

Dumbbell Single Arm Row                  5sets x 10reps

1. 20kg
2. 20kg
3. 22kg
4. 24kg
5. 24kg

Superset with

Cable Face Pulls                                   5sets x 12reps

1. 10kg
2. 12kg
3. 15kg
4. 15kg
5. 17.5kg

Dumbbell Shrugs                                 5sets x 12reps

1. 22kg
2. 22kg
3. 26kg
4. 30kg
5. 24kg

Dumbbell Curl                                   5sets x 10reps

1. 10kg
2. 12kg
3. 14kg
4. 16kg
5. 12kg

Superset With

Dumbbell Lying Tricep Extension    5sets x 10reps

1. 8kg
2. 8kg
3. 10kg
4. 10kg
5. 12kg

A good cool down, recovery shake and dinner to follow pretty soon after.

I found day one really enjoyable, it was a bit of a test as I hadn't trained with such high amounts of sets before and so it was a good test of pacing myself. Especially as I was on my own as well. I will keep this up to date and at some point upload days 2,3 and 4 tomorrow!

Thanks for reading guys!

Good luck getting fit, don't give up hope.